College of Psychology and Sociology.
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2018 Jan 1;13(1):63-71. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsx138.
People tell lies not only for their own self-interests but sometimes also to help others. Little is known about the ways in which different types of goals modulate behaviors and neural responses in deception. The present study investigated the neural processes associated with spontaneous deception that occurs with altruistic reasons (i.e. the money would be donated to charity), self-serving reasons (i.e. the participant receives all of the money) and mixed goals (i.e. the money would be equally split between the participant and the charity). Altruistic motivation for deception reduced the intensity of moral conflict and the subsequent mental cost of resolving this conflict, reflected by a smaller N2-P3 effect in the purely altruistic condition. When making decisions about whether to lie, self-interest was a stronger motivator than others' interests, and the participants tended to lie more for themselves than for others. When the lie could be mutually beneficial for both of the self and others, the participants tended to lie even when they knew that they could be easily caught, but they actually lied for their own self-interest rather than for altruistic reasons. These findings shed light on the neural basis of 'good lies' and decision-making in mutually beneficial situations.
人们说谎不仅是为了自身利益，有时也是为了帮助他人。然而，人们对于不同类型的目标如何调节欺骗行为和神经反应知之甚少。本研究探讨了与自发欺骗相关的神经过程，这些欺骗行为是出于利他主义原因（即钱将捐给慈善机构）、利己主义原因（即参与者获得全部钱）和混合动机（即钱将在参与者和慈善机构之间平均分配）。利他主义动机的欺骗行为减轻了道德冲突的强度和解决这种冲突的心理代价，这反映在纯粹利他主义条件下 N2-P3 效应较小。在决定是否说谎时，自身利益比他人利益更具驱动力，参与者往往更倾向于为自己而不是为他人说谎。当谎言对自己和他人都有利时，参与者往往会在知道自己很容易被发现的情况下说谎，但实际上他们是出于自身利益而说谎，而不是出于利他主义原因。这些发现揭示了“善意的谎言”和互利情境下决策的神经基础。
